Mailbox with sight signal

ABSTRACT

A mailbox construction includes a tubular flagstaff mounted on a pivot disposed rearwardly from the mailbox receptacle, the flagstaff having an unfilled portion overlying and coextensive with the receptacle and a weighted overbalancing portion projecting beyond the rear wall of the receptacle, the flagstaff being latched to the door of the mailbox and thereby held in a horizontal position when the door is closed, the flagstaff swinging to a vertical position under the bias of the weighted portion when the door is opened.

United States Patent [191 Pittman Aug. 20, 1974 [54] MAILBOX WITH SIGHT SIGNAL 2,985,360 5/1961 Stapleton 232/35 Inventor: Charles D- Pittman, 2637 3,080.10? 3/1963 Lmdahl 232/35 Gladioulus Ln., Dallas, Tex. 75233 Primary Examiner Francis K. Zugel [22] Filed: Aug. 22, 1973 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Ralph R. Pittman [21] Appl. No.1 390,655

[57] ABSTRACT [52] U S Cl 232/35 A mailbox construction includes a tubular flagstaff [51] In} .Cl 29/12 mounted on a pivot disposed rearwardly from the 58] Field 0i'sQFiLIIIIIIIII'11111111135213;s4 17 f mfvmg unfilled portion overlying and coextensive with the receptacle and a weighted overbalancing portion projecting be- [56] References and yond the rear wall of the receptacle, the flagstaff being UNITED STATES PATENTS latched to the door of the mailbox and thereby held in 692,8l4 2/1902 Ball 232/35 horizontal position when the door is closed, the flag- 826v416 7/1906 FOFWOOd 232/ 34 staff swinging to a vertical position under the bias of 1 233 332 the weighted portion when the door is opened. 2:480:469 8/1949 Horn........::::::::...............:::::: 232 35 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Mi a/,0.

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MAILBOX WITH SIGHT SIGNAL BACKGROUND A large variety of door-controlled visual mailbox signals have been described in the prior art, ranging from simple flag members falling by their own weight to the more expensive spring-driven and electrically operated signals.

In general, relatively low-cost gravity-responsive signalling devices, while operating without difficulty, have poor visibility due to the usual downward movement of the flag with respect to the associated mailbox. A number of the spring-driven constructions move a flag above the box, and are therefore much more visible; however, because of the requirement for a long life of the spring and the spring-stressed members, a satisfactory spring-actuated device can be made available only at an increase in cost over the gravity-actuatedsignals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The mailbox signal described herein utilizes a simple overbalanced flagstaff horizontally overlying and folded along the mail receptacle when latched to the mailbox door, the flagstaff swinging to a vertical position in which it projects above the mailbox a distance greater than the length thereof, thus providing a gravity-actuated signal which moves upwardly to a signalling position of high visibility. In this way the desired abovebox visibility is realized without the need for springs or spring-stressed components.

Four inexpensive components make up the signalling structure: a tube, preferable of thin-wall aluminum, somewhat longer than the mail receptacle; a weight contained within one end portion of the tube; a bracket for attachment to the rear wall of the receptacle; and a latch associated with the door of the mailbox.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevation showing the flagstaff latched to the door, the broken lines showing the position assumed by the flagstaff in response to the opening of the door;

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation, particularly showing the mounting bracket on the rear wall of the box, the flagstaff being shown in the vertical signalling position;

FIG. 3 is an elevation of the front or door-end of the mailbox, showing the latch structure;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the mailbox with signal; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view of the weighted end of the flagstaff.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a folded horizontally disposed flagstaff overlying an elongate mailbox, the flagstaff being releasably secured to a movable door of the box, the flagstaff carrying at its forward end a signal flag which is automatically actuated to a signalling position under the influence of gravity when the door is opened.

In more detail, the mailbox is shown fitted with a flagstaff, generally indicated by the numeral 13. A bracket, in the form of a metal rod bent to meet specific structural requirements and generally indicated by the numeral 16, is secured to the rear wall of the mailbox 10, a lower transversely extending portion 17 and an upwardly extending portion abutting the surface of the wall and adhesively bonded thereto by the cement 26. Fromthe upper end of the portion 18, the bracket rod projects upwardly and rearwardly to merge with'a pivot formed by a transversely extending portion 20 at an elevation above the top of the subjacent portion of the mailbox, the bracket being terminated by a relatively short downwardly directed end portion 21.

The flagstaff 13 is preferably a length of straight light-weight, thin-wall tubing, e.g., aluminum tube, and is pivotally mounted on the bracket 16, the pivot portion 20 passing horizontally through a diametrically directed apertured passageway in the flagstaff, the downwardly directed end portion retaining the flagstaff on its pivotal mounting. Forward from the pivotal mounting, an unfilled portion 14 of the flagstaff overlies the entire length of the mailbox l0, and at the forward end of the unfilled segment of the flagstaff there is secured thereto a flag 24, the flag being in the form of a metal sheet of magnetic material and adhered to the flagstaff by the adhesive bonding cement 26 (FIG. 1).

A relatively short segment 15 of the flagstaff projects rearward from the pivotal mounting and is closed at its outer end by the cap 22.

As shown at FIG. 5, the hollow or cavity within the tubular flagstaff extending between the cap 22 and the pivot 20 contains a filler 23, the material forming the filler preferably having a density substantially greater than that of the material forming the flagstaff tubing, such as lead shot. The size of the shot is such that it will not pass through any space between the outer surface of the pivot 20 and the inner surface of the tubing, the pivot 20 cooperating with the end closure 22 to hold the weight material therebetween.

The weight of the filler material is sufficient to continuously urge the flagstaff 13 to swingable movement about the pivot 20; to normally preclude such movement, a magnetic latch member 25 is secured to the mailbox door 11 and in the path of movement of the magnetic flag 26 when the door 11 is closed.

When the mailbox door is swung open about its mounting pivots 12, the magnetic latch member '25 moves away from the flag 26, which heretofore has functioned as an armature of the magnetic latch. Thus the act of opening the door releases the flagstaff for upward swingable movement to the signalling position indicated by the solid lines of FIG. 2, and the dashed lines of FIG. 1.

To assure that the flagstaff comes to rest in a vertical signalling position, parallel to the rear wall of the mailbox, the offset portion 19 of the mounting bracket is such that the centerline of the pivot 20 is rearward from a plane along the outer surface of the rear wall for a distance equal to one-half of the diameter of the flagstaff plus the thickness of the bracket rod. With this construction, the impact on the rear wall of the mailbox accompanying the signalling movement is distributed along the horizontal bumper portion 17 of the bracket.

What is claimed is:

l. The combination with an elongate mailbox having a pivoted door at the forward end thereof and a vertical wall at the rear end thereof, of a signal comprising a rod-like bracket secured to the rear wall, said bracket extending upwardly, rearwardly and transversely therefrom,the transversely extending upper portion defining a horizontally directed pivot disposed at an elevation above a spatially adjacent portion of the mailbox and rearwardly beyond said rear wall, a rectilinear tubular flagstaff pivotally mounted on said pivot, saidl flagstaff having an unfilled portion extending forward from said pivot over the entire length of said mailbox and a shorter weight-containing portion projecting rearwardly from said pivot, weight means disposed within said weight-containing portion, said weight means having a density substantially greater than that of the material forming said flagstaff and present in an amount sufficient to continuously urge said flagstaff to swingable movement about said pivot from a horizontal position to a vertical position, and latch means movable with said door for restraining the swingable movement of said flagstaff.

2. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein the pivot upon which said tubular flagstaff is mounted extends horizontally through the longitudinal axis of said tubular flagstaff. I

3. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein closure means at the rearward end of the weight-containing portion of the flagstaff cooperates with the pivot upon which the flagstaff is mounted to fix the position of the weight means.

4. The subject matter of claim 1, in which said weight means is a plurality of lead shot.

5. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein a flag is attached to the outer end of the unfilled portion of said flagstaff.

6. The subject matter of claim 5, wherein the flag is a flat sheet of magnetic material and a permanent magnet is mounted on the door and in the path of movement of the flag, the flag functioning as an armature in association with said magnet to constitute a magnetic latch means.

7. A signal for an elongate mailbox having a door, said signal comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to the rear vertical wall of a mailbox, said bracket defining a pivot positioned rearwardly from the mailbox and above a subjacent portion thereof, a tubular flagstaff pivotally mounted on said pivot, said flagstaff having an unfilled portion extending horizontally forward from said pivot over the entire length of the associated mailbox and a relatively short filled portion extending rearward from said pivot, weight means disposed within the filled portion in an amount sufficient to swing said flagstaff about said pivot from a horizontal position to a vertical position, and means dependent upon the position of said door for releasably holding said flagstaff in the horizontal position. 

1. The combination with an elongate mailbox having a pivoted door at the forward end thereof and a vertical wall at the rear end thereof, of a signal comprising a rod-like bracket secured to the rear wall, said bracket extending upwardly, rearwardly and transversely therefrom, the transversely extending upper portion defining a horizontally directed pivot disposed at an elevation above a spatially adjacent portion of the mailbox and rearwardly beyond said rear wall, a rectilinear tubular flagstaff pivotally mounted on said pivot, said flagstaff having an unfilled portion extending forward from said pivot over the entire length of said mailbox and a shorter weight-containing portion projecting rearwardly from said pivot, weight means disposed within said weight-containing portion, said weight means having a density substantially greater than that of the material Forming said flagstaff and present in an amount sufficient to continuously urge said flagstaff to swingable movement about said pivot from a horizontal position to a vertical position, and latch means movable with said door for restraining the swingable movement of said flagstaff.
 2. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein the pivot upon which said tubular flagstaff is mounted extends horizontally through the longitudinal axis of said tubular flagstaff.
 3. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein closure means at the rearward end of the weight-containing portion of the flagstaff cooperates with the pivot upon which the flagstaff is mounted to fix the position of the weight means.
 4. The subject matter of claim 1, in which said weight means is a plurality of lead shot.
 5. The subject matter of claim 1, wherein a flag is attached to the outer end of the unfilled portion of said flagstaff.
 6. The subject matter of claim 5, wherein the flag is a flat sheet of magnetic material and a permanent magnet is mounted on the door and in the path of movement of the flag, the flag functioning as an armature in association with said magnet to constitute a magnetic latch means.
 7. A signal for an elongate mailbox having a door, said signal comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to the rear vertical wall of a mailbox, said bracket defining a pivot positioned rearwardly from the mailbox and above a subjacent portion thereof, a tubular flagstaff pivotally mounted on said pivot, said flagstaff having an unfilled portion extending horizontally forward from said pivot over the entire length of the associated mailbox and a relatively short filled portion extending rearward from said pivot, weight means disposed within the filled portion in an amount sufficient to swing said flagstaff about said pivot from a horizontal position to a vertical position, and means dependent upon the position of said door for releasably holding said flagstaff in the horizontal position. 